


and the colours won't fade 'till morning

by scheifsforlife



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Baby Names, Coda, Fluff, M/M, Red String of Fate, Romance, Surrogacy, post-retirement, soulbond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26975986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scheifsforlife/pseuds/scheifsforlife
Summary: Story Summary: Jonny’s been a sucker for Patrick since the beginning.A coda toyou were yellow, but the lights were red
Relationships: Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	and the colours won't fade 'till morning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the promised coda to [ you were yellow, but the lights were red](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24509614/chapters/59166505). If you haven’t read that, you probably will want to read it before jumping straight into this. However, that’s totally optional because this coda doesn’t really explore the soulbond dynamics of this world as much; it’s more like a little snippet of Patrick and Jonny’s life in the after. Please enjoy this little slice of happiness!
> 
> Title of this fic comes from [ Chasing Stars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvOFQFj3Ekc) by Rupert Pope and Giles Palmer.

Jonny slams the books down on the coffee table, while simultaneously tugging on his red string and watches as Patrick’s head snaps up immediately. He’d been entertaining Bastien and Manon on the couch with some colouring books and toys, looking like a perfect example of domesticity. Jonny’s heart is filled to the brim with love for them, so much so that it feels like it’s pouring out of every pore in his body. He wants to wrap them up in his arms and shout it from the rooftops that this. This is his family. He loves them so much it feels like he’s going insane some days.

It always amazes Jonny how well he and Patrick adapted to being retired, from jet setting across North America every other week to not having much to do with their days other than taking care of the kids and attending the occasional Blackhawks game. He had always thought that he and Patrick would be one of the ones who would fight and claw their way into every last game they could get and not stop until their bodies couldn’t hold themselves up anymore. He thought they’d be bitter and angry when they left, frustrated that the game they loved was being ripped away from them. But it had been the complete opposite when Patrick sat him down two years ago, when Manon was born, and told him that he was done, that he was going to stay at home and take care of Manon for the first few years of her life. Jonny had been, unabashedly, unconditionally, happy. He felt like it was time for them, like it felt right, and he had told Patrick then and there that he was ready to follow him out. It was the best decision Jonny had ever made (aside from coming out with Patrick).

Now, he gets to be the dad of all dads. He goes to work in the morning at the Jonathan Toews Foundation headquarters in Chicago and comes home at around noon. He gets jumped by the kids and spends the rest of the afternoon playing with them while Patrick goes and updates the Blackhawks on all of the advanced statistics they need via online meetings. Then, when Patrick finishes up at five, they all sit at the dinner table and have dinner, where Bastien will ramble on about all the fun things he saw at pre-school in the morning and Manon will babble aimlessly in her high chair. If there’s a Blackhawks game on, they’ll let the kids watch the first period before tucking them into bed with a story and a kiss. After, he and Patrick will finish watching the game, making comments about Sharpy’s hair during intermission and gripe about the powerplay before retiring to bed for cuddles until morning. Sometimes they have sex, usually when it’s a Pacific time away game, but it’s not needed to make Jonny happy. Jonny is insanely happy with his life right now. He loves his life. He loves being a dad.

And that’s what they’re doing now. They’re making him a dad again by naming the little fetus that’s growing in his sister-in-law’s, Jackie Kane’s, belly, as a result of a bet Patrick made when they won their third cup that indebted all of his sisters to be their surrogates. They had used Jonny’s sperm for Bastien and Manon because well, convenience, but for the coming baby, they had agreed to do a shake and bake with a donor (mainly because Jonny wanted to see if he could get some curls on at least one of their kids). Jonny knew though (through the bond of course) that Patrick really wanted Jonny’s sperm to win so they could have another kid with Jonny’s big brown cow eyes and nose wrinkle.

(This led to Jonny mooing at Patrick every time he walked into the room for a solid month, with Bastien joining in with no need for prompting).

“I still think we should name him Patrick,” the current Patrick says, cradling sweet Manon (who gurgles happily) in his arms.

Jonny grunts. They’ve been having this argument for years on end now, ever since Erica told them that she was pregnant with Bastien. Patrick still won’t give it up, although Jonny maintains the idea that it’s creepy to have their kids named after them. Patrick just counters this by sicking his dad on Jonny, who always protests that no, it’s not. It’s gone on for so long that Jonny seriously considered naming Manon Patricia just to have Patrick shut up. He sends a middle finger to Patrick through the bond to show how much he hates talking about this and is not at all surprised in the least when Patrick sends back some swears in Klingon. That boy loves his Star Trek more than anything in the world, including Jonny.

“We’re not naming our kid after you. That’d be like renaming Bastien after me,” Jonny says as calmly as he can manage, gesturing at the kid who had somehow climbed into his lap from the time Jonny had been standing to when he had finally sat down in the Uncomfortable Armchair that He Hates But Patrick Loves Like Mad.

Bastien bats his cheek playfully with his teensy, tiny little hand, and giggles when Jonny grabs it and presses a kiss to it. Jonny loves Bastien. He reminds Jonny a lot of Patrick, with his hair and his softness. But he also loves Bastien because he LOVES agreeing with Jonny, and Jonny’s man enough to admit that it sometimes comes in handy in arguments with Patrick.

“Mmmmmm ouais Papa,” Bastien, who is starting to finally understand more English, mumbles. “Le bebe ne peut pas avoir le même nom comme Daddy.”

Jonny’s eyes drag up to Patrick, a silent smirk playing on his lips. He sends, “See the kid agrees with me,” through the bond, just to see Patrick’s eyes narrow meanly at his own son. Bastien never gets scared of Patrick when he does that though, just sends Patrick a toothy grin and laughs because he can never get it as scary as “moi et Papa.” Jonny pats Bastien’s face (still full of baby fat) lightly, proud that at least someone in his family is rational.

“It’s a family name!” Patrick protests, a “Manon agrees with me,” reverberating through the bond.

Jonny rolls his eyes. Obviously, they both have their favourites, but it’s not fair for Patrick to use his child against him (even though Jonny plays dirty and uses Bastien against Patrick all the time).

“So is Jonathan,” Jonny counters. “But you don’t see me wanting to name the kid Jonathan Toews the Second.”

“Fuck you!” Patrick swears, unable to hold his anger in any longer, the bond still spewing Klingon insults at Jonny. “You’re not Irish. You don’t get it.”

Jonny feigns hurt, laughing through the string when he sees Patrick’s shock at what he actually just said. Manon stirs unhappily, and even goes to punch Patrick softly in the face. But neither of them have the reaction Bastien has.

“Daddy!” Bastien shrieks, hands pressing his chubby cheeks together in an imitation of the Scream. “Money ins thes swears jars.”

Bastien’s French accent is heavy as hell, and his lisp doesn’t make the words come out as very understandable but Jonny knows that Patrick is fully aware of what he’s saying. After all, he is Patrick’s son, and Jonny is 99.9% sure that Bastien’s lisp came from a variation of Patrick’s.

“Still should name him Patrick,” Patrick grumbles, as he shoves a dollar into the jar on one of the end tables. “It’s a baller name.”

There it is. And now, Jonny gets to remind Patrick about the most embarrassing moment of his entire married life (unfortunately the honour of the most embarrassing moment of his entire life goes to the first time Patrick did the Kaner Shuffle).

“Not a French name though,” Jonny says, watching Patrick’s face go pale. “And as I distinctly remember, you announced, very loudly, to all of the guests at our wedding that French names were the best and that we were naming the baby in Erica’s baby oven Bastien.”

Patrick gapes openly at Jonny and shifts awkwardly, like it’s disgusting to him that Jonny would even bring that up. It knocks Manon out of her precarious place on Patrick’s lap, and if it hadn’t been for Bastien jumping miraculously out of Jonny’s and catching her, she would’ve bashed her head on the edge of the coffee table. They both lunge towards Bastien and Manon at the same time, and after making sure that neither of them are seriously injured, they all curl up on the couch in their usual positions. Manon on Bastien’s lap, with Bastien shoved against Jonny’s side, and Patrick tucked underneath Jonny’s arm, pressing dry kisses to the crook of his neck. Clearly, he’s forgotten about their argument somewhere in between one of their children nearly braining themselves on a table and seems perfectly content to be the soft, cuddly Patrick that Jonny loves the most. Mainly because it’s Patrick’s natural state, and Jonny is nothing but a sucker for Patrick’s everything.

He always has been, to be honest. Ever since the first moment Patrick walked into the Junior Flyers locker room wearing the most ridiculous flip flops he’s ever seen, Jonny has known that he and Patrick have had something special. He had thought it was the yellow string between them, that was thin, but insanely strong, but when it had finally turned red, he knew. It had to be Patrick, there wasn’t a way around it. There was no one that Jonny was so desperately, deeply infatuated with like Patrick. He had wanted it to be red so bad in rookie year, and when it didn’t turn by the end of it, he had just subjected himself to living a life with Patrick as his best friend. And he probably wasn’t very subtle about it, but Jonny had buried those feelings of want and love so deep down inside of him that he was basically willing himself to make it a friendship. So deep down that he was lying to himself and everyone else every day of his life about what he felt. Jonny had only realized that it was harmful to Patrick when he broke down days after their Cup win and told Jonny how fucking awful it was to see Jonny’s yellow string and feel like he was drowning by himself because of everything he was holding back. Patrick was hurting so much, and Jonny had promised himself that he was never going to do that to him ever again.

And as much as he hates the idea of naming one of his kids Patrick, maybe he should. Jonny knows how much this means to Patrick, how much the whole idea of legacy means to the Kane family. He remembers how much of a big deal it was for both of them to actually sit down with their parents and tell them about being together (even though practically the world had known at that point). He remembers how Tiki had gone on a huge rant about the consequences of their coming out, how it could ruin the Kane name, just a whole bunch of bullshit about how it could destroy everything Patrick was building for them. The whole spiel is a big reason why things are still tense between Patrick and his dad. Yeah, when his parents visit, Patrick always shows that he loves Tiki. But everyone knows it hasn’t been the same, not like it was when Jonny and Patrick weren’t together. They’re both aware that Tiki supports them and their family, but Jonny isn’t blind to the fact that he’s fairly sure Tiki despises that Patrick took his last name when they got married and that they didn’t at least go for the hyphenation (Patrick’s idea, not Jonny’s). He doesn’t want to force Patrick to have to choose between Jonny and his family, and it sort of feels like he has by cutting off the Kane name like he has. Naming the kid Patrick wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world; Jonny LOVES Patrick’s name. He just never wanted to name one of their kids that. But if it makes Patrick happy and gives Patrick the opportunity to connect with his parents again, Jonny can bite his tongue and let him name the kid.

It’s not like Jonny won’t love the kid with everything he has either way.

“If you want,” Jonny says carefully, placing a soft kiss onto Patrick’s curls. “We can name the kid Patrick.”

Patrick hums happily and presses his lips to Jonny’s pulse point, a sort of thank you. But Jonny can feel through the bond that he isn’t satisfied, like hearing Jonny admit the defeat outloud didn’t fulfill what he actually wanted. And oh. Patrick sends what he actually wants, and all of sudden, it makes sense to Jonny. The name thing wasn’t ever him and his dad and the whole stupid legacy thing. Patrick has made his peace with it. It was always about wanting Jonny to be able to love  _ a  _ Patrick without being forced to by a string.

“Fuck that!” Jonny sends back through the bond. He didn’t even know that Patrick was still holding onto that. Because there have been countless conversations about how Patrick has no right to feel guilty because he hadn't forced Jonny to do anything. He hadn’t willed the string turn red through the “strength of his mind”. He didn’t tell Jonny to come over and nearly kiss him after Game 5. He didn’t make Jonny do anything Jonny wouldn’t have done by himself if he had just seen an opportunity to before the string changed. Everything Jonny did from that first day in LA to when they won the Cup in Boston was all under Jonny’s own accord. He doesn’t know why Patrick doesn’t believe it.

Yeah, it took Jonny a hell of a long time to get his shit together, but that doesn’t mean Jonny doesn’t love Patrick to the ends of the Earth and back and would do absolutely anything to make him happy.

“Baby,” Jonny mumbles, very aware of how much he doesn’t really want to have this conversation in front of their children because of how much he wants to reassure Patrick by sucking face with him. “I would’ve loved you without the string. I  _ did _ love you without the string. I’ll love you always.”

The bond immediately lights up, colours bouncing across it like Rainbow Road, Patrick’s happiness reflecting through the bond as Patrick asks a hopeful “really?” Jonny can only nod and try to push as much of his emotion back through the bond, praying that Patrick can see how his soul sings his name always, how it’s always been him for Jonny, from Day One, even when the string wasn’t red, when nothing was pointing them to be together.

“I know now baby,” Patrick says, content. He presses a light kiss into the crook of Jonny’s neck, humming lowly like he can’t imagine anything better than right now (Jonny sort of feels the same way). “So, baby names?”

Patrick reaches with grabby hands for the baby names book, but Jonny stops him. There’s no need for the book. Jonny already has the perfect name, knows Patrick will love it just as much as him, if not more. It’s a combination of what they both want, in a sense, a mixture of both of them in the exact way this kid will be.

“How about Pascal?” is what Jonny sends down the bond, watching apprehension settle on Patrick’s face before a bright grin replaces it, an agreement without word having to be said.

“Has the P,” Patrick sends right back, along with a “Would have the same initials.” 

Jonny just pulls him tighter against his body and smacks a kiss against his lips, ignoring how Bastien yells “thas gros!” and how Manon spits up a little bit right after, like she  _ knows _ . Jonny wonders how he got so lucky. He has everything he’s ever really wanted, the kids and Patrick, right here in a tiny little package. All because of one little string that changed everything, because of the split second decision of his to choose not to room with Patrick.

“It’s not luck Jonny,” and Jonny feels it in his bones as it comes through the bond, a direct connection to his heart.

“It’s fate.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come say hi on [tumblr!](https://scheifsforlife.tumblr.com/)


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